The present invention relates to an apparatus for aerating lawns and, in particular, to a aerating device for use with a conventional household lawn mower.
Aeration of a lawn is necessary to permit nutrients and water to reach the root system, thereby promoting a lush, healthy lawn. Aeration is accomplished by creating holes in the soil or by removing cylinders of soil from the lawn. The majority of aerating devices currently available are large, expensive commercial units that are impractical for the average homeowner.
Other devices, designed for use by the homeowner, have failed to achieve commercial success due to various shortcomings, namely difficulty in use and expense. One such device is a manually operable unit designed to be plunged by the user into the soil, requiring significant physical strength as well as a great deal of time to aerate an average sized lawn.
Attempts at providing aeration devices have been made in which their is a spiked wheel attached to the rear end of a lawn mower as well as another wheel attached spring device which in turn is attached to the rear end of a lawn mower. This apparatus is rather complicated in construction and its rearward location interferes with the bagging operation of the lawn mowers. Furthermore, when this device is used on lawn mowers that are manufactured with protective guards designed to stop debris from hitting the operator's feet its rearward location may interfere with the protective guard and in fact endanger the user. It is also difficult to both aerate and mow at the same time.
It is therefore, the object of the present invention to provide an aerating device that can be retrofit to existing manual and power lawn mowers, which does not have the disadvantages found in the prior art.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an aerating device for attachment to an existing lawn mower that is inexpensive, safe and simple in construction.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide an aerating device that does not interfere with the normal operation of the lawn mower, thereby allowing a user to simultaneously cut and aerate his/her lawn.
These advantages as well as others will be found in the following disclosure. Full details of the present invention are set forth in the following description and in the appended drawings.